Trouserlike garment

ABSTRACT

THE TROUSERLIKE GARMENT COMPRISING A TUBULAR PIECE WITH TWO LEGS, EACH LEG HAVING A WELT ON ITS END. THE GARMENT HAS A GUSSET THE ENDS OF WHICH EXTEND INTO THE ENDS OF THE LEGS AND HAVE THERE THE SAME WELT-STRUCTURE AS THE WELTS OF THE LEGS. THE GARMENT IS FORMED BY PROVIDING A TUBULAR PIECE OF FABRIC WHICH IS CUT OPEN ALONG TWO DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSING LINES EACH BEGINNING AT SAID WELT AND LEADING PARALLELLY TO WALES UNTO A POINT FORMING THE CROTCH. A STRIP-SHAPED GUSSET FORMED BY A SINGLE FABRIC PIECE AND HAVING LONGITUDINAL PARALLEL SIDES AND END PORTIONS OF WELT-STRUCTURE IS PROVIDED. THE LONGITUDINAL SIDES OF THE GUSSET ARE SEWED TOGETHER WITH THE EDGES OF THE CUT PARTS OF THE TUBULAR PIECE SO THAT BOTH WELTSTRUCTURED END PORTIONS OF SAID GUSSET AND THE WELT PORTIONS OF SAID TUBULAR PIECE TOGETHER FORM SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM WELT-STRUCTURED ENDS OF BOTH LEGS OF THE TROUSERLIKE GARMENT.

March 2,1971 M, MERK ETA; 3,566,410

TROUSERLIKE GARMENT Filed oct. 11. 1965 United States Patent O Inf. C1. A4111 9/02, 9/04 U.S. Cl. 2-224 1 Claim ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The trouserlike garment comprising a tubular piece with two legs, each leg having a Welt on its end. The garment has a gusset the ends of which extend into the ends of the legs and have there the same welt-structure as the welts of the legs. The garment is formed by providing a tubular piece of fabric which is cut open along two diametrically opposing lines each beginning at said welt and leading parallelly to Wales unto a point forming the crotch. A strip-shaped gusset formed by a single fabric piece and having longitudinal parallel sides and end portions of Welt-structure is provided. The longitudinal sides of the gusset are sewed together with the edges of the cut parts of the tubular piece so that both weltstructured end portions of said gusset and the welt portions of said tubular piece together form substantially uniform welt-structured ends of both legs of the trouserlike garment.

The present invention relates to a trouserlike garment and especially an undergarment such as shorts, panties, or the like, which is made of a knitted fabric and provided with leg parts which have a welt knitted thereon, and further provided with a strip-shaped gusset, the ends of which extend into the welts of the leg parts and have the same welt-structure as the welt-parts of the legs.

Garments of this type are usually made of a tubular piece with a welt knitted on one end thereof, which tubular piece is cut open along two diametrically opposite lines beginning at said welt and leading parallell to wales unto a point forming the crotch.

The strip-shaped gusset is made in the following manner: A rectangular piece of fabric is provided along one of its edges with a welt. Two strips are cut off from said rectangular piece along cutting-lines perpendicular to said welt-edge. Those ends of both strips which are not provided with a Welt-part are connected by a seam so that the nished strip-shaped gusset has welt-parts on its ends.

The longitudinal sides of this strip-shaped gusset are sewed together with the edges of the cut parts of said tubular piece in such a manner that the welt-parts of the gusset together with the welt-parts of the tubular piece form substantially uniform ends of both legs of the garment.

From the foregoing, it is to be seen that for connecting its two parts, the gusset must have at least one seam which reduces the transverse elasticity of the gusset, diminishes its softness at the location of the seam, and increases the thickness of this part of the gusset. Furthermore, the presence of a seam within the crotch as well as in one or both leg parts is rather uncomfortable to the wearer of the garment. Although these disadvantages may be reduced to a small degree by making the seam or seams of a special type, for example, in the form of looping seams, such seams require the stitches of the edges which are to be connected to be transferred twice.

It is one object of the present invention to eliminate Fice these disadvantages by making the gusset of a single piece of material, that is, the gusset is a one-piece-strip with Welts on its ends, whereby the welt-parts of such a strip have the same structure as the welt-parts of the tubular piece, in order that the welt-parts of the gusset may be able together with the welt-parts of the tubular piece to form substantially uniform Welt-ends of the legs of the garment.

Such a single-piece-gusset may be made from a rectangular piece of fabric which is provided with welts on two parallel edges. A welt generally includes a structure of various courses. With the rectangular piece for making the single-piece-gusset the succession of courses of the welt of one edge is reverse to the succession of courses of the welt of the other edge, as seen in the knitting direction.

The edge of the last knitted welt-part is finished by means of an elastic seam, preferably an overcasting seam, which takes up every stitch. Thus the succession of the courses of both welts are substantially symmetrical to a symmetric axis laid parallel to the welt-edges in the center of the rectangular piece. A strip is cut ot said rectangular piece along cutting-lines which are rectangular to the Welt-edges of the piece. Thus a one-piece-gusset is obtained with welt-parts on its ends, the surface of which gusset is entirely without any seam. This gu'sset matches the edge portions of the leg parts both as regards the fitting and the design, since the elastic seam which is provided at one edge of the gusset is practically invisible.

Such a garment is preferably made in such a manner that an elastic thread is knitted into the welt of the tubular piece and also into both welt portions of the gusset.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become more clearly apparent lfrom the following detailed description thereof which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the tubular piece of fabric from which the trouserlike garment is made;

FIG. 2 shows the gusset; While FIG. 3 shows the nished garment with the leg parts thereof being turned upwardly by degrees about a transverse axis;

|FIG. 3a is a perspective view of the trouserlike garment of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 3b is a plan view partially broken away of a rectangular piece of knitted ware from which the gusset is cut.

In the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the tubular piece of fabric t1 which is to be made into a trouserlike garment and is provided with a welt 2 and with two cuts 3 which are made along two diametrically opposite lines and extend up to the point 4 which in the nished garment should form the crotch.

Into this tubular piece of fabric 1 a one-piece stripshaped gusset 5 is inserted which has longitudinal edges 6 and narrow sides 2', 10 forming the edge portions 17 and 1.18 which are knitted as Welts whereby the last knitted of the two welts, f.i., edge portion \18 at narrow side 10, is finished by an elastic seam, preferably an overcasting seam. Such gussets 5 may be produced by knitting a at rectangular piece or a tubular piece of a length equal to the length of the longitudinal sides 6 of a gusset and by then cutting out the gussets by cuts which extend in the direction of the wales.

Such a gusset 5 is inserted into the tubular piece 1 in such a manner that the longitudinal edges 6 of the gusset 5 are connected by seams 8 and 9 with the edges 7 of the cuts 3. The welt portion 17 of the gusset 5 is placed in alignment with one Welt portion 2 of one half of the tubular piece 1 to form one leg part 11, while Welt portion 18 of the gusset =5 is placed in alignment with the other welt portion 2 of one half of the tubular piece to form the other leg part 12.

Referring now again to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 3b, a rectangular piece of knitted ware is illustrated having a solid welt at its upper edge and at its lower edge, each forming a plurality of courses in a manner that the succession of the diterent courses a, b, c, d, e at both edges is arranged opposite each other, i.e., in mirror-image type symmetry, as indicated in FIG. 3b. v'From such strip, the height of which corresponds to the entire length of the gusset 5, the latter is cut along lines 6, 6.

It is further advisable to knit an elastic thread 13;` into the starting edge of the tubular piece which forms the welt 2 and/ or into the following courses. ln such a case, similar elastic threads 14 and 15 should also be knitted into the welt portions of the gusset 5.

The waist of the garment may be provided in the conventional manner with a waistband 16.

Although our invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, we wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus fully disclosed our invention, what we claim is:

1. A trouserlike garment comprising a tubular piece of knitted fabric having a welt knitted thereon,

said welt including a structure of a plurality of courses,

said tubular piece being cut open along two diametrically opposite lines each beginning at said welt and leading parallelly to wales unto a point forming a crotch deiined by the cuts and forming cut parts, further comprising 'a strip-shaped gusset formed by a single fabric-piece and having longitudinal parallel sides and end portions, as well as including one rlirst end portion and a second end portion,

said irst end portion of said gusset having a welt of the same structure as said tubular piece,

said second end portion of said gusset having also a welt of the same structure as said tubular piece, the various courses of said second end portion being made in the reverse order of the succession of courses to the order of said iirst end portion, seen in the =knitting direction,

said second end portion of said gusset including and being finished by an elastic seam taking up every stitch, and

said longitudinal sides of said gusset being sewed together with the edges of said cut parts of said tubular piece,

so that the end portions of said gusset and said welt of said tubular piece together form substantially uniform ends of both legs of said trouserlike garment.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,104,538 .1/l938 Goldsmith 66-171 2,285,012 6/ 1942 Burkey 2-224X 2,459,043 1/ 1949 OWenby et al. 2-224 2,837,904 6/19'58 Scriggins 66-176 FOREIGN PATENTS 509,334 3/ 1952 Belgium 2-224 H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. XJR. 66--177 

